


Please tell me you're not the TA

by halictus



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (but they're the same age and are both adults), Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Pre-Relationship, TA Remus Lupin, Undergraduate Student Sirius Black
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 23:54:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30012930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halictus/pseuds/halictus
Summary: Sirius sees the most attractive man outside of the classroom he's looking for. His biggest wish: please don't be the TA.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 14
Kudos: 110





	Please tell me you're not the TA

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on Tumblr! Here is a link: [@halictus-writer](https://halictus-writer.tumblr.com)

It’s day one of the new semester, and Sirius is walking up the second flight of stairs when he sees the most gorgeous hunk of _man_ just standing outside a door. He has the facial structure of Clark Kent, and he’s _tall_ , and he’s… standing outside of the door Sirius is looking for. 

Sirius hangs up the phone—James was talking about some girl he just met—and walks closer. The man is wearing glasses. He’s already wearing his lab coat and gloves. Somehow he looks cute in them. Or hot. Fuck.

“Please tell me you’re not the TA,” Sirius says as he steps in the man’s vision. As one of the few real adults going ‘back-to-school’, Sirius doesn’t often find himself among students his own age. 

“I’m the TA,” the angel says, although he’s grinning as he says it, and Sirius is already smitten. Fuck. 

***

It’s a week later, in the angel’s—Remus’s—office hours, when Sirius sees his ring for the first time. Simple gold band, on the fourth finger of his left hand. “Are you married?” Sirius blurts out on impulse. 

Remus looks up from his desk—Sirius had only just entered, apparently the only eager student attending office hours without a test to cram for yet—and smiles sadly. He flicks his eyes to a frame facing him, hidden from Sirius’s view. “I was. Or I was supposed to be. My boyfriend—um, fiancé—died.”

“Oh, fuck,” Sirius mutters. “I’m sorry,” he says, and means it.

Remus smiles sadly again. When he smiles, Sirius can see just how perfectly sculpted the man’s face is. “Me too,” he says simply.

***

It’s the last week of classes, and Sirius has heard enough about James’s new red-haired girlfriend, thank you very much. It may be more stomachable, but for the fact that he himself has been at a standstill. Or, maybe not a standstill, but rather a piece of art—a sculpture—that he can’t take his eyes off of. Not for the first time, Sirius wonders what his life could have been like if he didn’t lose those young adult years. What if he had met Remus when they were both undergraduates?

It’s the last week of classes, and Sirius is doing fine. He’s stuck to his study plan, finished his one term paper, and is just finishing up his final lab practical. He finished early, but stays behind as other students turn theirs in and leave the room. He checks his work diligently, of course, but takes a few glances at the gorgeous TA all the while. Eventually, it’s just him and the older lesbian couple. And Remus.

Sirius gets up. He figures the women wouldn’t mind bearing witness to whatever conversation he is about to have.

“Finished checking your work, then?” Remus asks him, with a kind smile.

“Something like that,” Sirius returns, and flicks his eyes down to Remus’s partly-exposed collarbone—just once. He’s getting a point across, not risking harassment charges.

“Oh,” Remus says, and flushes a little.

“When will the grades be submitted?” Sirius asks, searching for something to say.

Remus nods at the chalkboard, to where he already wrote it and knew Sirius had already seen. “Wednesday.” Remus smiles, and it’s Sirius’s turn to flush.

He collects himself with a huff of laughter. “Right.”

“And I’m still holding my Thursday office hours, in case anyone needs to complain about their low grade or ask for extra credit. But I don’t think that’ll be a problem for you—you’ve done well this semester, Sirius.”

Sirius swallows. He likes hearing Remus say his name, he decides. “Thank you, Remus.”

Remus smiles, and looks down at the backpack Sirius is holding, but hasn’t swung on yet.

“Um,” Sirius says. “If I want to check my answers, just to, you know, see what I got wrong, and learn from it, would I be able to come to those office hours anyway?”

Remus nods again, and shifts his body to welcome one of the two women coming to turn in her exam. “Yes, I can give out the graded hard copies on Thursday as well.”

“Got it, thanks Remus.”

“You’re welcome. Good luck with your other finals.”

“Thank you.”

***

Sirius paces in front of the building. He would rather do it in front of the actual door—it would feel more purposeful that way—but he knows Remus would see him through the window. He picks at the hem of his shirt a few times, checks his phone, and sighs.

There are five minutes left in Remus’s office hours as Sirius finally climbs the stairs leading to his door. He’s still not sure what he’s going to do— _if_ he’s going to do—when the decision is made for him: Remus sees him while locking up his door.

“Oh, Sirius!” he calls out. “I wasn’t sure if you were coming. You did get a nearly perfect score after all.”

“Oh, yeah.” Sirius laughs, feeling uncomfortably put on the spot but also warm with the praise.

“Well,” Remus says, now digging through his bag, “if you want to frame the test, here it is.”

Sirius laughs—genuinely, this time—and accepts the paper. “Remus.”

“Yes?”

Sirius laughs again, a bit nervous this time. He’s never nervous when he flirts. This is a first. “Now that you’re not my TA…”

Remus raises his eyebrows at him. They’re adorable eyebrows, somehow.

“Will you go out for coffee with me? As a date?” Sirius asks through one exhale.

Remus looks at the floor. When he finally looks back up again, Sirius sees his grin. “Sirius,” Remus says, through his pretty smile, “I can’t promise you much. I can’t promise nearly anything, to be honest.”

“That’s okay,” Sirius says. “I don’t think I can either.” He shrugs slightly, as if it could encapsulate who he is, and what that means for his dating life. He’s not old, but he’s not young. He’s made choices, and is still recovering from them. He’s seen enough of the world to know that dating isn’t going to be magical, and it can’t involve putting someone else’s needs before his own. But he thinks Remus knows this too.

“I would love to,” Remus finally says, and Sirius grins obnoxiously. Remus fiddles with his engagement ring, and looks up, and suddenly Sirius sees the gloss on his eyes. “I can’t promise you much, but I would love to.” He interrupts himself with a laugh, and turns back to make eye contact again. Sirius notices his bright eyes look minutely clearer once more. “You know the first thing I thought when I saw you?”

“No. What?” Sirius prompts eagerly.

“Please don’t be one of my students.”

Sirius laughs warmly, and after a beat Remus joins him. The sound echoes back to them in the empty hallway, and Sirius decides that he likes the sound. It isn’t a perfect harmony, and you can hear the differences between them. But it sounds like something he could get used to. 

And he does.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on Tumblr! Here is a link: [@halictus-writer](https://halictus-writer.tumblr.com)


End file.
